.:.:.:.:.: north antrim LEADER :.:.:.:.:.

Information Sources
Information on the Leader Plus Programme is available from the Leader Plus Office and other contact points (such as the Local Enterprise Agencies, Local Strategic Partnerships, local development officers or advice centres) throughout North Antrim.

Initial Enquiries
Leader staff will, time permitting, be available to have an initial discussion on your proposal. This is a means of giving potential applicants an indication if their proposal is one which Leader+ could potentially provide assistance. If the proposal is eligible in principle the applicant will be advised to go through a full application process.
If your proposal is deemed ineligible you will be notified and if appropriate, directed towards another funding body.

Main Application
The full application form consists of a seven page application form which is available from the NAL+ Office.

This form requests details such as the name of the business, number of years trading, description of the proposal, beneficiaries, jobs created, need and demand and financial projections.

The main areas to concentrate upon are the Need & Demand for your proposal. This requires the applicant to provide evidence of the demand for their project, how they can demonstrate that there is an available market for their goods and not just becauuse they think so. The stronger the case that can be made in this section the better chance the application has in scoring highly. Applicants are advised not to be over ambitious in job creation figures as this is often not the case in reality.

There may be assistance offered (on a group basis) by Leader staff to help understand the application process and other local organisations may also offer assistance.

Decision-Making Process

After an initial eligibility check, all fully completed applications will be fully appraised, there will usually be a site visit and any additional information will also be considered. Leader+ will also liaise with other funding bodies to ensure there is no duplication. The application will be considered by a North Antrim Leader+ sub-group and a recommendation made to the full NAL+ Board who will make the final decision. All applications should be given a decision within three months. It should be noted that Leader+ funds are limited and that all applications are on a competitive basis.

Letter of Offer
The decision of the Board will be notified to the applicant either as a rejection or in the form of a letter of offer.This letter of offer will outline the conditions of the assistance(timescale,insurance,possible training requirements etc)and should be signed by the applicant within one month of the date of issue. This letter of offer will be accompanied by a list of eligible expenditure and the amount and percentage of aid granted. Payments will not be issued until the relevant documentation has been submitted and checked.Payment is only made on paid original invoices.

Monitoring and Evaluation
Project promoters will also be liable to inspection from local, national or EU level personnel after final payment is made. This will be to ensure that promoters have fulfilled all requirements and to assess the impact of projects in terms of targets achieved.

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